The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark is an interesting study in story structure. Othello and Richard III begin with the direction of the plot in the first scene of Act I. Richard and Iago let the audience know their intent from the start. They are men who are discontent with their lot in life; Richard wants power and Iago seeks revenge. We know from the start that these are men of action. Hamlet, on the other hand, begins with a ghost who does not speak and Shakespeare leaves his audience dangling during the first scene of Act I.
Shakespeare does not lay the plot on a silver platter for the audience but instead he makes them wait. Hamlet, the hero, and Claudius, the villain are introduced in the same scene. Leaving us still dangling, Shakespeare has Claudius interpret Hamlet for the audience. “Though yet of Hamlet our dear brother’s death/ The memory be green, and that it us befitted/ To bear out hearts in grief and our whole kingdom/ To be contracted in one brow of woe,/ Yet so far hath discretion fought with nature/ That we with wisest sorrow think on him/ Together with remembrance of ourselves.” (1.2.1-7) Hamlet, we are told, exists outside of the normal state of mourning for his father.
This brilliance of this opening scene is that Claudius speaks with full authority. His speech is rational and sound. He speaks as a king. An audience watching this scene on stage has no reason to doubt his authenticity. There are no angry Danes seeking to amass an army against Claudius. There are no asides from those at court telling us that we should not doubt that this character as the rightful king of Denmark. All seems ordered and right in the kingdom. Even Fortinbras of Norway does not march on Denmark to place a rightful heir on the throne but to settle a property dispute.
Claudius, as the sanctioned heir receives the throne and his brother’s wife as queen. “Nor have we therein barred/ Your better wisdoms, which have freely gone/ With this affair along. For all, our thanks (1.2.14-16).” All is as it should in the state of Denmark and within the royal family. The marriage appears to be the final stage of insuring the stability of the monarchy.
The first lines spoken directly to Hamlet by Claudius, are words of affection, “But now, my cousin Hamlet, and my son (1.2.64).” Then Hamlet breaks this tender moment with his first lines, “A little more than kin and less than kind (1.2.65).” What is one to think of Hamlet? He intrudes upon this convivial atmosphere with his melancholy and brooding. Shakespeare leaves his audience doubting Hamlet’s character especially as he, in the next scene, sets off in search of his father’s ghost. One wonders if Hamlet’s grieving has left him in his right mind.
Shakespeare creates an uneasy tension in this first act of the play which leaves the audience unsure of what to think. Ophelia is warned by her father and brother to be wary of Hamlet. “Perhaps he loves you now,/ And now no soil nor cautel doth besmirch/ The virtue of his will; but you must fear,/ His greatness weighed, his will is not his own,/ For he himself is subject to his birth (1.3.14-18).” This is another moment when the audience is led to distrust Hamlet. Then the ghost appears to him.
“Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder (1.5.25),” the ghost charges Hamlet and the kingdom of Denmark is turned topsy-turvy. In this new world, Claudius is not a magnanimous king but a murderer, Gertrude is not a loving wife but an incestuous adulteress, Hamlet is not surly young man but a victim who will have to set things right, and Denmark is a state without a leader. Once the audience knows of the murder and the ghost’s invocation for Hamlet vengeance, Shakespeare holds the plot not giving anything away, keeping us guessing from throughout each act of the play.
Richard and Iago moved forward pushing against all obstacles until their ambition swallows them. But Claudius is not a villain created in their image. He prays. He seeks redemption. He is scared. He readily admits he acted out of love and ambition when he killed his brother. He can’t even bring himself to kill Hamlet himself but would like the King of England or Laertes to do the honor. Hamlet will not be the decisive avenging angel the audience expects.
3 comments:
I like how you bring Iago and Richard in and compare them to Claudius. Though he is a villain, he is much more of a human than the other two. I think thats a key element to this play; the characters which inhabit Denmark are very relatable. Not that Shakespeare's other plays and characters are not, nor are the happenings in Denmark your average situation, but there is something to these characters.. they give a off a feeling that no other Shakespeare play can, at least any that I have read. Perhaps that is why this is his masterpiece.
Shakepeare seem to love throwing the reader right into the story! While reading your blog I wondered how we would react to this play if we had no prior knowledge of it's plot and characters. Would we see Claudius as logical, rational, and regal as you suggested, or would we see right through him? Would we still understand that Hamlet is mourning the unnatural loss of his father, or would we instead see him through the eyes of Laertes, Polonius, Claudius, and Gertrude? Also, I agree with what Robert says above. There is something I can't necessarily pinpoint about Hamlet, but it really is a play unlike any of Shakespeare's other works.
I, too like the connection made through the comparison of Richard and Iago to Claudius. It really does cause you to stop and really think about Claudius's character. In agreement with Martha's post, I also wondered if our opinion, as readers, would be different if we went into reading this play with no preconceived notions about it. As Sandra clearly illustrated in her post, it probably would be based on how Shakespeare structured the play. This 'waiting' that Shakespeare creates, as well discussed in class, causes a heightened level of mystery and suspense that really makes the reading enjoyable.
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